Of the total 30 members in the committee, three members, including one from BJP, were absent. Reuters

SummaryOf the total 30 members in the committee, three members, including one from BJP, were absent.

Government today managed to have its way in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam when the panel approved the draft report giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram with a 16-11 vote in its favour.

Outside allies BSP (2) and SP (one), voted with 14 others of the ruling coalition to approve the report that accused former Telecom Minister A Raja of "misleading" the Prime Minister and "belying" the assurances given to him.

Of the total 30 members in the committee, three members, including one from BJP, were absent. Of the 27 present, the ruling side got the votes of Congress (11), NCP (one), BSP (2), SP (1) and Nominated member Ashok Ganguly.

Attacking the outcome, BJP leader and member of the committee Yashwant Sinha said a contrived majority has been "unashamedly" used to adopt a report based on "wrong facts, falsehood and prejudicial" findings without the consideration of the Committee.

The Opposition votes were made up of BJP's 5 and one each of BJD, TMC, CPI, CPI(M), AIADMK and DMK.

The draft report of the JPC also rubbishes the loss figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore estimated by CAG, saying it was "ill-conceived".

The report, which was circulated among members in April also accuses Raja of forging the press note of January 7, 2008 after it was seen by the then Solicitor General G E Vahanvati.

"The Committee wish to point out that the procedure" regarding the First-Come-First-Served (FCFS) criteria was a "misrepresentation of facts and in tactic deviation from the existing procedure," it says.

While giving sequence of events leading to allocation of 2G spectrum, the report says, "the Committee are inclined to conclude that the Prime Minister was misled about the procedure decided

Of the total 30 members in the committee, three members, including one from BJP, were absent. Reuters

SummaryOf the total 30 members in the committee, three members, including one from BJP, were absent.

Government today managed to have its way in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam when the panel approved the draft report giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram with a 16-11 vote in its favour.

Outside allies BSP (2) and SP (one), voted with 14 others of the ruling coalition to approve the report that accused former Telecom Minister A Raja of "misleading" the Prime Minister and "belying" the assurances given to him.

Of the total 30 members in the committee, three members, including one from BJP, were absent. Of the 27 present, the ruling side got the votes of Congress (11), NCP (one), BSP (2), SP (1) and Nominated member Ashok Ganguly.

Attacking the outcome, BJP leader and member of the committee Yashwant Sinha said a contrived majority has been "unashamedly" used to adopt a report based on "wrong facts, falsehood and prejudicial" findings without the consideration of the Committee.

The Opposition votes were made up of BJP's 5 and one each of BJD, TMC, CPI, CPI(M), AIADMK and DMK.

The draft report of the JPC also rubbishes the loss figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore estimated by CAG, saying it was "ill-conceived".

The report, which was circulated among members in April also accuses Raja of forging the press note of January 7, 2008 after it was seen by the then Solicitor General G E Vahanvati.

"The Committee wish to point out that the procedure" regarding the First-Come-First-Served (FCFS) criteria was a "misrepresentation of facts and in tactic deviation from the existing procedure," it says.

While giving sequence of events leading to allocation of 2G spectrum, the report says, "the Committee are inclined to conclude that the Prime Minister was misled about the procedure decided

Fairfax and BlackBerry could not be reached immediately for comment. AP

SummaryPrem Watsa has personally contacted several Canadian, US pension and private-equity funds.

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd is seeking more than $1 billion in equity investments from institutional investors to back its preliminary $4.7 billion plan to acquire BlackBerry Limited, the Globe and Mail reported on Wednesday.

Citing unnamed people familiar with the discussions, the Canadian newspaper said Fairfax Chief Executive Prem Watsa has personally contacted several leading Canadian and U.S. pension and private-equity funds to win support for the bid to buy the struggling smartphone maker.

The sources said that as of Tuesday only one pension fund, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, was seriously considering joining a takeover consortium. Teachers declined to comment on the report.

Skepticism about the Fairfax bid appeared to be mounting on Wednesday, with BlackBerry shares falling almost 4 percent to $8.20 on the Nasdaq, well below the $9-a-share offer price. In Toronto the stock was also down about 4 percent at C$8.43.

The Globe and Mail said Watsa was pitching the acquisition as a leveraged buyout that would be financed with more than $3 billion in bank loans, $1 billion in equity from institutions and Fairfax's nearly 10 percent stake in BlackBerry.

If it falls short of raising the equity to help finance the potential takeover, the Globe said Fairfax intends to arrange a short-term bridge loan that could be repaid with BlackBerry's cash holdings of about $2.6 billion.

Fairfax and BlackBerry could not be reached immediately for comment.

Fairfax's proposal was announced on Monday. BlackBerry, which put itself on the block in August, warned last Friday of dropping sales, a big operating loss and job cuts.

If the bid succeeds, it is seen as giving BlackBerry some breathing room, but would not necessarily solve the problems that have pushed the smartphone maker into a corner.